Ex-Knicks Fan Had Loyalty “Pried Away” by Brooklyn Nets

In his continued quest to be one of the best in the business, Howard Beck spent some time in his latest New York Times article talking to two Knicks defectors: Nelson Ortiz and James Graham, once fans of the New York Knicks but have, as Mikhail Prokhorov prophesied, turned into Brooklyn Nets fans.

Ortiz said that the team was so bad for so long that he was “kind of looking for a way out,” and the Bay Ridge resident will attend Saturday nights’ pseudo-opener dressed in black and white. Graham says he tried diligently to remain loyal throughout the lawsuits, lost seasons, and poor playoff performances, but his loyalty was “pried away with a crowbar, (and) now it’s attached to a new team.”

Beck did talk to one fan, Brian Koppelman, a 23-year Knicks season ticket holder, who vowed to become a Brooklyn Nets fan this season — and got cold feet at the last moment.